You'll like knowing this reason that sleep is refreshing

About The Loh Down On Science

Airs Weekdays 2:31, 3:31 and 5:49 a.m.

The Loh Down on Science is the fun way to get your daily dose of science in less than two minutes. The program explains the world of science with a dash of humor. Hosted by writer/performer and Caltech alumna Sandra Tsing Loh, it's a program for those who love science as well as for those who avoid it!

Each day, our minds get filled with garbage. Biologically speaking. Metabolic processes create chemical waste. Like toxins that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease. This nasty stew makes it difficult to think, learn, and make decisions. Yet most of us wake up all bright-eyed and clear-headed each morning! How’s that possible?

Meet Maiken Nedergaard, from the University of Rochester Medical Center, in New York. She studied the brains of mice and noticed a network of fluid-filled channels among nerve cells. They were filled with the said toxins. Which were then dropped off at veins that shuttled them away. It’s a cerebral sewer system! And when Nedergaard imaged the flow in her mouse-subjects? She found that the channels expanded during sleep. By 60 percent. And this flushed out cellular excrement twice as fast as during the day.

So sleep triggers a large-scale brain-drain that literally cleanses our minds. Then you wake up feeling like new! Talk about being brainwashed! But in a good way! Sweet dreams.